Find the Good by Heather Lende

Find the Good was a sweet and easy read that inspired to do as the title says, find the good. I found the book while scrolling through my local eLibrary’s selection of self-help books. I was feeling a little down and knew that I needed a mental boost. I was searching for something that wasn’t written by a doctor (no offense to them) and that would just brighten up my gloomy feeling days. The cover was fun with a bright lemon, and I realized the premise was perfect immediately.

Heather Lende writes obituaries in a small town in Alaska. This offers a unique look into the accomplishments and regrets of people she is sometimes close to, or otherwise is at least acquainted. Lende’s process of writing an obituary includes a formal outfit and extreme kindness for the family she must interview after the passing of their loved one. In one of the stories she shares, she begins to write for a woman who hasn’t yet passed away. Faced with terminal illness, the woman could speak to her own obituary. This may seem like a downright depressing read, but it is the opposite. The people that Lende chose to share in this story led both interesting and meaningful lives, and yet they were “ordinary”. None of them were famous, their names won’t be written into history books, but they made an impact on the world through the lives of others in this small Alaskan town.

Lende also shares important moments in her own life with her own husband, children, grandchildren, and quirky pets. Including a cat that she should have been allergic too and didn’t plan to acquire. The result of this book is a smile and personal reflection. This author is a grandmother that has lived through the seasons and has her own wisdom to share. She also has the lessons she’s learned from many other people’s life accomplishments that she's had the honor of documenting.

The reason this book spoke to me is because of where these messages came from. Whenever I get upset about the mess in my house, or that I don’t own my house, I remind myself that I don’t want to be known as the woman who kept life clean and orderly. No one will care if my house was always clean and whether I owned or rented the house. I want people to remember me as kind and compassionate. I want to have a meaningful impact on people so that they can have a little more sunshine in their own journeys on earth. Find the Good, teaches us to look for the good in ordinary life. Little normal actions can have big positive ripples.

"Find the good, praise the good, and do good, because you are still able to and because what moves your heart will remain long after you are gone..."
- Heather Lende

It Started With Goodbye by Christine June

It Started With Goodbye tells the “Cinderella” story of a girl named Tatum who is grounded all summer for an unfortunate situation that happened between her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend. She played an unknowing part in a crime and had to pay a hefty fine and community service for her trouble. Like a Cinderella story, she has a step-mother whom she calls her “step-monster”. Her step-sister is quiet and cold to Tatum. So naturally she feels isolated regularly except her new punishment has heightened that feeling. The role of “fairy godmother” is played by Tatum’s step-grandma who is staying for the summer to help monitor Tatum’s daily actions while her dad is out of the country.

She sends a lot of emails with people over the summer, including her mystery “prince” named SK, and each time this happens we aren’t alerted to the switch between email and story line. This might seem minor but it really interrupted the flow of reading the story. A different font, or italics would have been nice here. I was a little surprised that we didn’t see more text message dialogue in this story of teenage juniors in high school.

The story is fairly predictable. 

Once you tell someone it will be a Cinderella story you pick up on who is who in the story very fast. It isn’t hard to determine who in her family also has a secret. Also too easy to guess what the secret would be. The mystery boy “SK” was an obvious one. I know that was a little unavoidable in a book. It was also obvious as soon as she lost her key chain (the glass slipper in this case) that she would be getting it back in the end of the story, as well as how it would be returned to her.

I enjoyed following Tatum around through her troubled summer. I related to her days of manual labor because I spent one day at a wildlife reserve pulling plants for a college project requirement. The one day was enough, so I sympathized with her story of a whole summer in this labor. The moment she meets SK is sweet and just the right level of teen summer romance. I could remember being a teen and that innocent fun when getting to know your crush. That is about where I started to lose interest though. Being a mother myself, I didn’t believe the makeup moment between Tatum and her dad. Without revealing the story, I’ll say that it didn’t feel realistic in the way it happened. Also unrealistic (in my opinion) was the turnaround of the step-monster. It was too much and too quickly for a real person. Overall, the adults and their methods of parenting just weren’t quite realistic to me. Perhaps I need to broaden my parenting horizons. :)

All in all, a good read for the teenage audience. I think they could relate to Tatum and her angst. I’m sure several teens will identify with her. Hopefully they’ll appreciate her growth and maturity toward the end of the story.